


Sapporo Pain

by BenDiagram



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:33:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29789928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenDiagram/pseuds/BenDiagram
Summary: Yoshiko's mother, in a drunken stupor, argues with her daughter in the middle of a stream. Angry, dejected, and sad, Yoshiko runs and hides from her mother.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Sapporo Pain

_Why does this always happen to me?_

The deep orange sun was setting on the horizon, its reflection glistening on the waters of the Kano river. On an evening like this, there were few people to be seen strolling about the shores of the river.

Yoshiko sat under the Onari bridge, curled up and hiding her face from the few strangers nearby. Dried tears marked her cheeks. She sat there for what felt like an eternity. 

_What a fucking bitch! Why does she think she can call me a freak when she's drowning herself in beer? Goddamn it!_

In the time that had passed, Yoshiko had gone through every single possible resolution to the argument that she could've thought of. She cried, vowing to herself to never drink, pissed off at her mother for falling into alcoholism. She even took off her phone case and bent it as hard as she could, trying her best to find an outlet for her anger.

Her anger had since subsided into quiet sadness. She sat quietly, not having the energy to move. 

_...I hate this..._

*bzzt*

Silence.

Then, Yoshiko whispered "...fuck off."

Not wanting to see what her mother had texted her, she reached into her pocket and turned her phone to silent. She had run out of anger and could barely bring herself to move her arm to her pocket. She let her arm droop down onto the floor, not caring about where she was or what time it was.

She had never felt this miserable before. Not when Aqours received 0 votes at the event in Tokyo. Not when she left kindergarten and had to say goodbye to Hanamaru. Nothing could stack up to her own mother walking in on her in the middle of one of her streams and calling her a freak in front of all of her fans.

________

The sun had set beyond the horizon. Darkness was creeping in and the streetlights came to life, lighting up the shoreline.

Yoshiko counted the cracks on the floor in the meantime. She was too exhausted to do much of anything else. Occasionally, she would peer her gaze up and stare at the few people left on the other side of the river.

 _They must be having fun..._ she thought to herself, returning her gaze to the floor. In a way, the emptiness and the quiet were a nice respite from the pain.

"Yoshiko-saaaannnn!" 

Yoshiko tensed up at hearing her name. Was it her mother?

"Yoshiko-san, where are you?"

She relaxed just a little bit upon realizing that it wasn't her mother calling her name. Knowing it wasn't her, she sheepishly said "I'm here" in a voice not much higher than a whisper.

Yoshiko heard hurried footsteps come closer and closer. She lifted her head up and saw a slender figure in front of her with black hair.

Dia.

"Oh thank God you're ok..." Dia panted, clearly out of breath.

"W-what... what are you doing here?" Yoshiko was shocked to see Dia of all people next to her.

Yoshiko's mind was too jumbled up to fully process why Dia was standing right next to her, so Dia spelt it out for her.

"Yoshiko-san, I've been looking all over for you! My God, I was so worried you were hurt! You didn't respond to any of my texts or phone calls and when I went to your apartment nobody answered the door! I-" Dia choked up slightly, not finishing her sentence.

"I was so worried..." Dia sat down and turned her head away, trying to regain her composure.

Yoshiko reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. 7 missed texts and 3 missed phone calls from Dia. Dia had asked Yoshiko to have dinner with her since she was in the area.

"...sorry Dia..." Yoshiko was ashamed and could barely stand to turn her gaze to Dia. She put her head down and resumed her sitting position.

"Yoshiko-san. Why are you here this late at night? You know it's dangerous to be alone in such a dark place."

"...it's none of your business." Yoshiko couldn't muster any anger behind her words, the words coming out meek instead.

Dia scooted closer to Yoshiko. 

"Hey... I'm not angry with you for not responding to my texts, ok? I'm here to listen if you need someone to talk to."

Yoshiko turned her gaze towards Dia, and what she saw wasn't just the usual student council president that kept Aqours in line. She also saw a friend in her emerald green eyes, someone she could confide in and trust. If she had come this far to find her, then Yoshiko figured she deserved to hear an explanation.

"...Dia, you know that I stream sometimes right? ...like, as a hobby?"

"Yes, Ruby has mentioned it to me before."

"Well... I kinda do fortune-telling on my streams? Weird shit like that, y'know? And... and... tonight I was doing a stream... and my mom... she- she-"

Yoshiko let out a sob and couldn't keep the tears from coming. The pain had come back anew. She broke down, covering her face with her hands, her tears covering her hands and face.

Suddenly, she felt a warmth around her waist. Dia wrapped her arms around Yoshiko and pulled her in for a hug. Dia nestled her face onto Yoshiko's head, pulling her close.

"Shhh... I'm here for you. I promise."

Dia caressed Yoshiko's hair as her tears continued to fall.

In the darkness beneath the bridge, Dia, still holding onto Yoshiko, whispered gently to her.

"Yoshiko, you're not weird. You're not a freak, I promise."

"You're a wonderful, smart, and talented girl."

"You are perfect just the way you are, no matter what your mom says."

They continued like this until Yoshiko's tears had finally stopped coming.

Yoshiko felt safe in Dia's arms. She felt like nobody could come and hurt her as long as Dia was there for her.

"...thank you." said Yoshiko, hardly above a whisper.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, Dia gently caressing Yoshiko's hair and Yoshiko wiping the rest of the tears off of her face.

"...We should get going, Yoshiko-san. It's getting late." Dia let go of Yoshiko, to wish Yoshiko promptly grabbed her arm.

"Wait, Dia... please, I can't go home, please..."

Dia looked at Yoshiko intently and pulled our her phone.

"Ok, let me see if I can have you stay at our house tonight."

Dia phoned home to get the green light from her parents and they began their way to the Kurosawa residence.

Yoshiko walked a pace behind Dia. Thought of her mother and her stream faded away as she looked forward to finally getting some food and some rest. Yoshiko finally felt safe.


End file.
